The Porte Saint-Denis was originally a gateway through the Wall of Charles V that was built between 1356 and 1383 to protect the Right Bank of Paris. The medieval fortification had two gates and was surmounted with four towers. Additional portcullises defended the outer gate along with a drawbridge and rock-cut ditch. However, with the advent of gunpowder and the development of cannons and bombards, the walls were eventually partly torn down in the 1640s to make way for the larger and more fortified Louis XIII Wall. In the 1670s, the remaining walls of Charles V were entirely demolished when Paris spread beyond the confines of its medieval boundaries.
A monument defining the official art of its epoque, the Porte Saint-Denis provided the subject of the engraved frontispiece to Blondel's influential Cours d'architecture, 1698.[1] It was restored in 1988.
The Porte Saint-Denis is a triumphal arch inspired by the Arch of Titus in Rome. The monument is 24.65 m (80.9 ft) high, 25 m (82 ft) wide, and 5 m (16 ft) deep. The arch itself is 15.35 m (50.4 ft) high in the center and 8 m (26 ft) across.
The main arch is flanked by obelisks applied to the wall face bearing sculptural groups of trophies of arms. Above the main arch, the southern face carries a sculptural group by Michel Anguier of "The Passage of the Rhine" in a sunk panel, while the north face carries allegorical figures of the Rhine and the Netherlands. The entablature bears the gilded bronze inscription LUDOVICO MAGNO, "To Louis the Great". Two smaller pedestrian walkways were built through the obelisk pedestals but they have now been closed.
